Moment Under a Tree
by Hypercritical-Q
Summary: Kurogane reads Maganyan while Fay teases him. The conversation gets slightly deep.


**AN: **Just a quickie ficcy I wrote for the hell of it. May not be as good as some of my other works. May be better. Who knows? I do these to unwind after 16 hour shifts of work. (Both jobs, not one.)

**Warnings: **Shounen-ai.

**Disclaimers: **I don't own anything.

**Time-setting: **Unlike most of my recent fics, this one has no spoilers. It takes place at some random point in their journey.

"Poor Kuro-tan." Fay frowned as he watched Kurogane reading Maganya, slumped over under a tree outside.

"Eh?" Kurogane glanced up, confused.

"You know if you stay hunched over like this all the time..." Fay mimicked Kurogane's position as he sat beside him. "Your back will stay that way! A ninja with back problems would be useless, right?"

"I can sit up straight." Kurogane did so, to prove it, annoyed. "I have fine posture, but if you bend a little, it's easier to dodge an attack out of the blue."

"...Do you expect to be attacked out of the blue?" Fay blinked.

"..." Kurogane glared at him. "Don't go getting any ideas."

"But it'll help you to tune-up on your training, right?! Okay! From now on I'll attack Kuro-myuu out of the blue- twice a day!"

"No."

"Yes, Kuro-pon! It'll be helpful!"

"I get enough training along this stupid journey. And it's never gonna end." Kurogane snapped.

"You sound so sad! It would make me very happy if we could continue traveling together... when we stop in Kuro-sama's world... I'll be kind of sad..." Fay mumbled, and Kurogane glanced at him, suddenly.

"Why's that?"

"..." Fay didn't reply for a moment as he plastered that fake grin of his back on. "...Because who will I make fun with?!"

"**_OF_**! WHO WILL YOU MAKE FUN **_OF_**! YOU MAKE FUN **_OF_** ME **_WITH_** THE DAMN MANJYUU!!!"

"...But it's all in good spirit."

"Good- ugh... you sound like her." Kurogane muttered, turning back to Maganyan.

"Tomoyo-chan?" Fay grinned. "Well, there's one thing I look forward to when we reach your world... I'll get to meet your Tomoyo-hime! Perhaps we can stay there for a while and plot together!"

"Plot..." Kurogane muttered, still reading.

"Yep!" Fay rocked back and forth, excitedly. "This world sure is pretty... you said before that Nihon gets all four seasons, right?"

"Yeah."

"And I bet there's lots of strong people there, just like you, Kuro-pon!"

"Not anymore. I killed them all."

"I'd expect you to say something like that, but it still sounded frightfully scary..." Fay chuckled. "...But I would like to go to Kuro-sama's world... to see where he's from... and the people there. If there are only strong people like Tomoyo-chan and Souma-san and Kuro-wanwan, then it must be a dangerous place, no?"

"No." Kurogane muttered, turning a page, seeming not to be paying much attention to the conversation. "It's only dangerous where I am because people are always coming after Tomoyo-hime. I suppose aside from that, there're many demons, but we have mikos to protect our borders, in most regions. Tomoyo-hime in particular is very skilled in keeping demons away, sadly she fails to realize that humans can be demonic in intentions."

"...That's true..." Fay mumbled, smile fading. "...But you kill those people, huh, Kuro-pon?"

"Yep."

"...Even if they were just ordered to attack?"

"Anyone with that much skill shouldn't be taking orders."

"You take orders from Tomoyo-hime..."

"Yeah, because she's someone worth taking orders from."

"...What if those people who were like demons were taking orders from someone they thought were worth taking orders from?"

"..." Kurogane glanced up from his book before glancing at Fay, oddly. "Why would I stop to think about something like that? You want me to stop in the midst of an assassination attempt long enough to analyze the enemy's _feelings_, while he kills an innocent princess?"

Fay continued staring down at his hands, sadly. "No..."

"..." Kurogane blinked, noticing the sudden change in Fay's demeanor. "...Were you, being a mage from Celes, forced to attack others for some sort of superior?"

Fay snapped out of it and smiled, sweetly. "You know me, Kuro-sama! I'm too lazy, I just cast spells and warned away evil, like Kuro-myuu's Tomoyo-hime!"

"...Hm." Kurogane arched a brow. "...Is that why you won't use your magic?"

Fay looked up, smiling. "It's not-"

"So it's alright for you to use it on your home world of Celes but you can't use it to protect us from demons or other forms of danger."

Fay blinked before averting his gaze, guiltily, his fists tightening despite his smile.

"..." Kurogane, noticing, turned away with a sigh. "Never mind... you've helped on more than one occasion... and it's not like you're under any obligation. I only help the kid because it speeds up to missions. I just want to go home..."

"...But I want to help Syaoran-kun..." Fay mumbled. "...I'm not a warrior like you guys are..."

"Bullshit." Kurogane muttered.

"I'm not!" Fay smiled. "I'm a sorcerer, like I said befo-"

"Then how do you explain those fighting skills? People aren't born with those, no matter what world they're born in. You must be used to fighting."

"...Yeah... I like fighting..." Fay admitted, tugging his knees to his chest and smiling up at the pretty sky.

"...Yeah?" Kurogane muttered, not really believing much of what the mage said, typically, but what the mage had just said, the ninja figured, _must_ be a blatant lie.

"I don't like to get hurt, but... I enjoy the physical contact... even if it's brief..."

"...I noticed that." Kurogane admitted, nodding as he flipped a page. "You seem to like it a lot... is that how things are in your world? Are people closer, physically?"

"...I don't know," Fay shrugged. "But I know when it's cold, sometimes it gets so cold you have to have someone or someones to embrace..."

"..." Kurogane watched Fay's face, intently, as he continued to pretend to be entranced in the book.

"So I would think you'd have had your fill of physical contact... or did you have no one to embrace?"

"For a long-" Fay's smile faded and his eyes widened as he realized what he was revealing, and he turned to Kurogane, laughing. "F-for a long time, it gets so cold you have no choice, you can even hug a stranger! But usually it's family."

"...Family?" Kurogane turned to him, fully. "...Do you have a family back on Celes?"

"Doesn't Kuro-pon have family in Nihon? Or is Tomoyo-hime your little sis-"

"NO SHE'S NOT MY LITTLE SISTER!!!" Kurogane bellowed, suddenly, and Fay covered his ears, laughing.

"So noisy! Maybe Kuro-poi has a crush on her!"

". . ." Kurogane glowered at him. "I'd kill anyone else for saying such a thing." He turned back to Maganyan. "Just shut up or go somewhere else."

"Hai hai." Fay placed a hand against the ground, readying to stand, and Kurogane glanced up.

"Is it that hard to shut up?"

"Eh?" Fay blinked before sitting back down, smiling. "...You want my company, Kuro-sama?"

"...I said be quiet." Kurogane muttered.

The two sat in silence for a bit, Fay leaning against the tree, left to sit in silence with thoughts and memories he didn't really want to confront. But at least Kurogane wasn't asking him anything...

"..." Finally, Kurogane finished his book, closing it and sitting up, popping his neck.

Fay smiled to him. "Such a sad sound to be heard coming from bones..." He moved behind Kurogane and started massaging his neck and shoulders. "Kuro-sama works so hard to protect everybody... no rest for Kuro-pii."

"Hm." Kurogane smiled. "I don't need much rest."

"..." Fay closed his eyes, nodding. "Don't worry, Kuro-po-po... eventually we'll arrive in your world and then you can relax."

"...Maybe there's no Ashura there..."

Fay froze, and Kurogane felt the man's fingers grow cold on his skin. It unnerved him, the odd magical sensation. He glanced back to see Fay pulling away, burying his hands in his lap.

"...Mage?"

"...That would be nice..." Fay stood, folding his hands behind his back and heading off.

"..." Kurogane watched him before sighing, rubbing his neck. It felt a little better...

Sighing, he stood, heading after the blonde.

---

**AN: **Read and review, please! I appreciate feedback, good and bad.


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